Process methods and apparatus for removing non-adherent elements for the skin of living beings, for measuring the hair loss of living beings, for measuring a quality sacle of a manufactured product and for having the pattern of non-adherent elements on a surface

ABSTRACT

Process, method and apparatus for removing non-adherent and/or loosely attached elements from the skin of living beings and measuring the hair loss of living beings. Process for removing non-adherent and/or loosely attached elements from the skin of a living being, comprising applying on said skin ( 1 ) an adhesive ( 10, 11 ) having an adhesive strength which is lower than the greatest anchorage strength of certain hairs ( 5 ) in said skin. Use of this process to measure hair loss from the skin of living beings or flux of hairs from the telogen phase to the exogen phase.

The present invention relates to a process for removing non-adherent orloosely attached elements from the skin of living beings.

The skin of living beings is frequently recovered with scales, excess ofgrease or similar particularly in very hairy regions of the body such asthe scalp in case of human beings. Generally such scales arecontinuously formed on the skin during the whole life of the livingbeing. It is further known that living beings continuously leave hairsduring their life. Of course this loss of hairs is normally important invery hairy regions such as the scalp of human beings.

For hygienic and healthy reasons it is generally requested to removeperiodically such non-adherent elements from the skin of living beingsparticularly human beings.

For skin and hair evaluation there is also a need for a method adaptedto measure the hair loss of living beings, particularly of human beings.Indeed, hair loss (i.e. the amount of hair lost in one definite unit oftime, for example one day, one week or one month) may be an informationon the health of a human being or of an animal or on the influence ofdifferent factors on the health, such as standard of living.

It is known to use strips having an adhesive wax or similar thereon toremove unwanted hairs (U.S. Pat. No. 1 620 539). This known method iseasy, rapid and inexpensive. However when using such strips all thehairs which are put in contact with the adhesive wax of the strip areremoved from the skin. This may be a disadvantage for certainapplications, particularly to remove scales or shedding hair from thescalp without damage to the hair fiber itself or the hair roots whichare in a growing phase.

For certain applications, particularly for very hairy regions such asanimal fleece or man and woman scalp there is thus a need for a meanswhich is adapted to remove non-adherent elements from the skin (such asscales or shedding hairs) without damage for the hair.

Accordingly it is an aim of this invention to provide a process which isadapted to remove non-adherent elements from the skin of living beingswithout altering hairs. Another aim of this invention is to provide aprocess which is adapted to detach and remove hairs which are looselyattached to the skin of a living being.

A further aim of this invention is to provide a method to measure thehair loss from the skin of living beings.

An additional aim of this invention consists in providing methods andapparatus for skin and hair evaluation of living beings, particularly ofhuman beings.

Accordingly the invention relates to a process for removing non-adherentand/or loosely attached elements from the skin of a living being,comprising applying an adhesive on said skin and tearing said adhesivefrom said skin, this process being characterized in that said adhesiveis selected among those having an adhesive strength which is lower thanthe greatest anchorage strength of hairs in said skin.

It is known that hairs grow from follicles that undergo cyclical phasesof growth and rest. It is generally considered that the hair cyclecomprises four successive phases. A first phase (the anagen phase)corresponds to an intense activity of the follicles with hair productionand growth at the skin surface. The duration of the anagen phase variesgreatly with the species and the age and from region to region of thebody. The end of the anagen phase corresponds to an arrest in hairproduction and a shrinkage of the dermal papilla. It is followed by theso-called catagen phase where the dermal papilla undergoes an ascendingmovement together with the hair shaft. The catagen phase is thuscharacterized by an apparent elongation of the hair fiber which reflectsthe outward migration of the hair shaft. The catagen phase is completedwhen the dermal papilla abuts the bottom of the permanent portion of thehair follicle and no hair elongation is observed at the skin surface. Itis followed by the telogen phase which is a true resting stage. Duringthis third phase the dermal papilla expands and attracts epithelialcells from the bulge of the follicle in a downward movement. Theepithelial cells then start production of a new non-pigmented hairfiber. Under physiological conditions this may correspondmorphologically in timing to the end of the telogen phase and thebeginning of the exogen phase of the previous hair cycle terminatingwith hair shedding. [Handbook of Cosmetic Science and Technology; A. O.Barel, M. Paye and H. I. Maibach editors, Marcel Dekker, Inc. New YorkBasel, 2001, pages 35-46: Ghassan Shaker and Dominique Van Neste(Skinterface sprl, Tournai, Belgium), “Hair” (FIG. 1 of pages 38 and39)]. The anchorage strength of an hair fiber in the skin varies withtime. In case of human beings it generally decreases from the anagen tothe exogen phase: during the anagen and the catagen phases the hairs aregenerally strongly anchored in the skin; the anchorage of the hairs inthe skin is less strong during the telogen phase and it is very weekduring the exogen phase. However this is not a generality for all bodysites of all living beings. For some animals (notably telogen furs) orsome body sites of human beings (such as eyebrows or eyelashes) theanchorage strength of hairs in the telogen phase may be greater than theanchorage strength of the hairs which are in the anagen phase.

The duration of the hair cycle is influenced by a series of factors suchas species, age, standard of living and region of the skin (RodneyDawber & Dominique Van Neste, “Hair and Scalp Disorders” Martin DunitzEditors, London, 1995 pages 11-14; Dominique Van Neste & Hugh Rushton“Hair Problems in Women”; Elsevier Science Inc.; 1997; pages 113-114).

In this invention, “non-adherent elements” are elements which do notbelong or will not interact for long with the surrounding living skinand are at most loosely attached to the skin. They may comprise dust,solidified particles of sebum or of coagulated blood, detached hairs andany similar elements.

“Non-adherent” means that these elements are either not attached to theskin or only loosely attached to the skin. “Loosely attached elements”comprise non adherent elements as just defined hereabove as well aselements which are at least partly inside a follicular orifice and atmost loosely attached to the skin inside said follicular orifice. Suchelements may comprise hairs or any other fibers for example artificialhair.

“Loosely attached to the skin” means that the attachment strength ofthese elements to the skin is lower than the greatest anchorage strengthof living hair follicles that produce hairs in said skin. So in case ofhuman beings, the attachment strength of these elements to the skin islower than the anchorage strength of the hairs which are in the anagenphase.

In the process according to the invention the adhesive is any meansadapted to seize or catch said non-adhesive elements. It may be glue.However preferred adhesives comprise elastic macromolecular matrices.With an elastic macromolecular matrix the non-adhesive elements and thehairs are seized and anchored in the matrix and there is competitivenessbetween the anchorage strength of the hair fibers in the follicles andthe elasticity of the polymeric matrix and this competitiveness allows aselective removal in function of the anchorage strength. Polymers withdecreasing elasticity allow selective removal in function of theanchorage of the fiber which will be removed. Generally silicon-basedadhesives are convenient.

In an advantageous embodiment of the process according to the inventionthe adhesive is used as a coating on a strip, preferably a flexiblestrip, for example a tissue or a plastic sheet.

The process according to the invention is particularly adapted to removehairs which are in the aforesaid exogen phase of the hair cycle.

Thus according to a particular embodiment of this invention in case ofhuman beings the adhesive is selected among those having an adhesivestrength which is higher than the anchorage strength of the hairs inexogen phase but lower than the anchorage strength of the hairs whichare in the telogen phase. This embodiment of the invention is adapted toremove the hairs which are in exogen phase while healthy hairs which arein the anagen, catagen and telogen phases are substantially notaffected.

This particular embodiment of the invention is particularly adapted toremove hairs which, although being in the exogen phase, are neverthelesstemporarily retained inside the follicular orifices by a gluing strength(the so-called trichostasis). In this particular embodiment of theinvention, such exogen hairs retained by trichostasis in follicularorifices are aforesaid “loosely attached elements”.

This particular embodiment of this invention is further adapted tocapture disordered anagen follicles as a result of inflammation or anyphysical and/or chemical damage (for example laser treatment,radiotherapy, chemotherapy, etc.). The origin of the agents and/orphenomenon which are responsible of these disordered follicles may beeither internal or external to the body of the living being.

A second aim of the invention consists in the use of the inventionprocess defined above for pealing away the skin of living beings(particularly human beings) or for thinning hairs of human beings oranimals. The invention process defined above is indeed adapted to cleanskin from any unwanted elements such as scales, dusts and solidifiedparticles of sebum or blood. It may be used for thinning the hair of menor women by removing hairs from the scalp which are in an exogen phaseas well as damaged anagen and/or catagen hairs if any without damage tohealthy hairs which are in either the anagen, the catagen or the telogenphases.

The process according to the invention has also an application in thepreparation of a skin surface before making very fine photographythereof or for scientific studies of the hair cycles.

A third aim of the invention is the use of the invention process definedabove to measure the hair loss of living beings, this use comprisingcounting (by any means known per se) the number of hairs which have beendetached from the skin by said adhesive.

It is indeed known that hair loss is influenced by different factors,particularly the origin or species, age, sex, living conditions andstandard of living, disease, medical treatment, physical treatment,chemical treatment, etc. The process according to the invention is welladapted to measure hair loss of living beings and so to appreciate theinfluence of each or a plurality of the aforesaid factors on the haircycle and the loss of hair.

Accordingly a further object of the invention is a method to measure thehair loss from the skin of living beings, this method comprising in afirst step applying on said skin an adhesive selected among those havingan adhesive strength which is higher than the anchorage strength ofhairs in exogen phase but lower than the anchorage strength of the leastanchored hairs other than those which are in exogen phase; in a secondstep tearing said adhesive from said skin and in a third step countingthe amount of hairs which have been detached from the skin in saidsecond step.

In the measuring method according to the invention, the adhesive mayadvantageously be a calibrated coating on a strip.

In a preferred embodiment of the measuring method according to theinvention, this measuring method includes at least three successivephases, comprising

-   -   (a) a first phase which comprises the aforesaid first, second        and third steps; and    -   (b) at least one second phase which comprises repeating the        aforesaid first, second and third steps of the first phase (a)        with another adhesive having substantially the same adhesive        strength as the one of the adhesive of the first phase (a); and    -   (c) a final phase which comprises doing the sum of the amounts        of hairs which have been counted respectively in said first        phase (a) and in said second phase (b).

An advantageous modification of this preferred embodiment includes

-   -   (d) after said second phase (b) and before said final phase (c),        at least one additional phase which comprises repeating the        aforesaid first, second and third steps of the first phase (a)        with an additional adhesive having substantially the same        adhesive strength as the one of the adhesives of the first        phase (a) and the second phase (b); and    -   (e) the aforesaid final phase (c) comprises doing the sum of the        amounts of hairs which have been counted respectively in said        first phase (a), in said second phase (b) and in said at least        one additional phase (d).

In this advantageous modification just described, said at least oneadditional phase (d) may either consist in a single third phase orinclude a third and a fourth (and possibly a fifth and even more than afifth) phase.

The measuring method according to the invention has several applicationsfor animals and human beings.

When the measuring method according to the invention is used formeasuring hair loss of human beings said least anchored hairs are thehairs which are in the telogen/exogen physiological phase. Accurateanalysis of hair loss of animals or human beings is more and morerequested to have a better knowledge of the action of differentparameters or factors on the loss of hairs, such as the species, age,sex and living conditions. Thus in addition to the analysis of the hairloss from the scalp of living beings (particularly human beings) themeasuring method according to the invention allows to measure parametersof the detached hairs such as for example the thickness, length, color,genetic material, etc.

In this application of the measuring method of the invention it may beinteresting to obtain a pattern of hair loss from the skin of livingbeings, particularly from the hair scalp of human beings. It is indeedknown that the loss of hairs from the scalp is not uniform on thesurface of the scalp but varies greatly from region to region of thescalp. There is thus a need for a knowledge of the topographicaldistribution of the hairs on men or women scalp, and particularly forthe modifications in this topographical distribution with time or otherphysical or physiological factors.

Thus, in an improved embodiment of the measuring method according to theinvention, this method comprises dividing the skin in a plurality ofzones before said first step, and said first, second and third steps areexecuted successively on each of said plurality of zones.

In this improved embodiment of the method according to the invention, aspecific means to divide the skin in a plurality of zones may be todispose a mask on the skin, this mask having openings separated bystrips of a material which is impervious to the adhesive applied in thefirst step of the method. So the adhesive used in said first step willpass only through the openings of the mask and attain the scalp.

In this aforesaid improved embodiment of the measuring method accordingto the invention, it is preferred to spread a marking. This markingproduct may advantageously be a liquid dye. In this preferred embodimentof the invention the dye is selected among those having an adhesivestrength or surface tension which is lower than the detachment strengthof the adhesive in the second step of the method. So the marking productwill attain and remain only in the follicular orifices of the skin wherehairs have been removed from in the second step (or steps) of themethod. This will allow a better visual appearance of hair loss on theskin. Any liquid dye having no detrimental action on the hairs and theskin may be used. Examples of liquid dyes comprise eosin, fluorescein,paraphenylene derivatives, etc. (non-exhaustive list).

The invention concerns also an apparatus to achieve the aforesaidimproved embodiment of the measuring method according to the invention,said apparatus comprising a mask, means to apply said mask on a specificzone of the skin, means to apply an adhesive on said specific zone ofthe skin in said mask, means to tear said adhesive from the skin andmeans to count hairs detached by the adhesive.

In the apparatus according to the invention the adhesive may be a liquidone. In this embodiment of the apparatus of the invention, the means toapply the adhesive on the skin may be a brush or a spraying device or aspatula or similar.

In another embodiment of the apparatus according to this invention themeans to apply the adhesive on the skin comprises a flexible striphaving a coating of said adhesive thereon.

In the apparatus according to the invention any convenient means may beused to count hairs detached by the adhesive.

The apparatus according to the invention is adapted to obtain thepattern of hair loss of animals or human beings. It is particularly welladapted to have a pattern of scalp hair loss of men or women.

The measuring method and apparatus according to the invention may beused with advantage to measure the flux of hairs passing from thetelogen to the exogen phase, i.e. the amount of hairs which, on adefinite surface area of the skin (for example a definite area of thehead of a human being), pass from the exogen phase to the telogen phasein a definite unit of time (for example in one hour, ten hours, one day,two (or more) days, one week or more, one month or more, etc.).

The invention concerns thus also a method to measure the flux of hairsfrom the telogen phase to the exogen phase on a definite surface area ofthe skin of a living being, said method comprising

-   -   (a) at least a first series of steps which includes        -   a first step which comprises applying on said surface area            an adhesive selected among those having an adhesive strength            which is higher than the anchorage strength of hairs in            exogen phase but lower than the anchorage strength of the            least anchored hairs other than those which are in exogen            phase; and        -   a second step which comprises tearing said adhesive from            said surface area; and    -   (b) a second series of steps which follows said at least first        series of steps (a) and which includes        -   a first step which comprises repeating said first and second            steps of said at least first series of steps (a) with            another adhesive having an adhesive strength substantially            equal to the one of the adhesive of said at least first            series of steps (a);        -   a second step which comprises counting the amount of hairs            which have been detached from the skin surface area by said            another adhesive; and        -   a third step which comprises dividing said amount of hairs            by the surface area and by the time elapsed between said            tearing steps of both the first (a) and the second (b)            series of steps.

In case of human beings, said time in said third step of said secondseries of steps (b) may advantageously be of from at least one day to atmost one month.

The characteristics of the invention disclosed above can be adapted,without any inventive modification, to the measure of the quality of anyheterogeneous surface comprising fibers of which some could be or becomeloosely attached to a support.

Accordingly the applicant considers that the use of the characteristicsof its measuring method and apparatus to such a measure is inside thescope of this patent application.

For a more complete understanding of the invention and advantagesthereof, reference is now made to the following description of preferredembodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a vertical section through a portion ofthe scalp of a human being;

FIG. 2 shows the scalp of FIG. 1, using the process of this invention.

In these figures, same reference numerals designate same components.

In FIG. 1 a scalp portion 1 comprises follicles 2, 3 and 4 with hairfibers 5, 6 and 7. Reference numeral 8 designates dermal papilla. Hairfiber 5 is in an anagen phase and hair fiber 6 is in a telogen phase. Infollicle 4 a new non-pigmented hair 9 is developing and hair fiber 7 isin an exogen phase.

In FIG. 2 a strip 10 comprising an adhesive 11 has first been applied onthe scalp portion 1 and thereafter tore away therefrom. According to theinvention the adhesive 11 is an elastic polymeric matrix having anadhesive strength to the hairs which is higher than the anchoragestrength of hair fiber 7 in its follicle 4 but lower than the anchoragestrength of the hair fibers 5 and 6 in their respective follicles 2 and3. So after tearing of the strip 10 from the scalp 1 the hair fiber 7(in exogen phase) is removed from the scalp and retained on the strip10, while hair fibers 5 and 6 (respectively in anagen and telogenphases) remain anchored in the scalp 1.

1-26. (cancelled)
 27. Process for removing non-adherent and/or looselyattached elements from the skin of a living being, comprising applyingan adhesive on said skin and tearing said adhesive from said skin,wherein said adhesive is selected among those having an adhesivestrength which is lower than the greatest anchorage strength of hairs insaid skin.
 28. Process according to claim 27, wherein said living beingis a human being.
 29. Process according to claim 28, wherein saidgreatest anchorage strength is the anchorage strength of hairs in anagenphase.
 30. Process according to claim 27, wherein said adhesive strengthof the adhesive is higher than the anchorage strength of hairs in exogenphase.
 31. Process according to claim 30, wherein in case of a humanbeing, said adhesive strength is lower than the anchorage strength ofhairs in telogen phase.
 32. Process according to claim 27, wherein saidadhesive comprises an elastic macromolecular matrix.
 33. Processaccording to claim 32, wherein said adhesive comprises a silicon-basedmacromolecular matrix.
 34. Use of a process in accordance with claim 27,for peeling away said skin.
 35. Use of a process in accordance withclaim 27, for thinning hairs.
 36. Method to measure the hair loss fromthe skin of living beings, comprising in a first step applying on saidskin an adhesive selected among those having an adhesive strength whichis higher than the anchorage strength of hairs in exogen phase but lowerthan the anchorage strength of the least anchored hairs other than thosewhich are in exogen phase; in a second step tearing said adhesive fromsaid skin and in a third step counting the amount of hairs which havebeen detached from the skin in said second step.
 37. Method according toclaim 36, wherein said counting the amount of hairs in said third stepcomprises counting the amount of hair on said adhesive after tearingthereof.
 38. Method according to claim 36, wherein it comprises dividingthe skin in a plurality of zones before said first step, and in thatsaid first, second and third steps are executed successively on each ofsaid plurality of zones.
 39. Method according to claim 38, wherein itcomprises applying a mask on every zones of said plurality of zonesexcept the one on which said first, second and third steps are executed.40. Method according to claim 38, wherein it further comprises spreadinga marking product on said zones of the skin.
 41. Method according toclaim 40, wherein said marking product comprises a liquid dye. 42.Method according to any one 36, wherein said living beings are humanbeings.
 43. Method according to claim 42, wherein said least anchoredhairs are hairs in telogen phase.
 44. Apparatus to achieve the methodaccording to claim 39, comprising a mask, means to apply said mask on aspecific zone of the skin, means to apply an adhesive on said specificzone of the skin in said mask, means to tear said adhesive from the skinand means to count hairs detached by the adhesive.
 45. Apparatusaccording to claim 44, wherein said means to apply the adhesive on theskin comprises a flexible strip having a coating of said adhesivethereon.
 46. Method to measure the flux of hairs from the telogen phaseto the exogen phase on a definite surface area of the skin of a livingbeing, comprising (a) at least a first series of steps which includes: afirst step which comprises applying on said surface area an adhesiveselected among those having an adhesive strength which is higher thanthe anchorage strength of hairs in exogen phase but lower than theanchorage strength of the least anchored hairs other than those whichare in exogen phase; and a second step which comprises tearing saidadhesive from said surface area; and (b) a second series of steps whichfollows said at least first series of steps (a) and which includes: afirst step which comprises repeating said first and second steps of saidat least first series of steps (a) with another adhesive having anadhesive strength substantially equal to the one of the adhesive of saidat least first series of steps (a); a second step which comprisescounting the amount of hairs which have been detached from the skinsurface area by said another adhesive; and a third step which comprisesdividing said amount of hairs by the surface area and by the timeelapsed between said tearing steps of both the first (a) and the second(b) series of steps.
 47. Method according to claim 46, wherein said timeis from at least one day to at most one month.